SPRING/BREAK Art Show

625 Madison Avenue

Curated by Jacob Hicks and Buket Savci

Featuring: Adina Andrus, Aleah Chapin, Nicolas Holiber, John Lark, Kaitlyn Stubbs, Miguel Carter-Fisher, Jessica Damsky, Jacob Hicks, Alfred Rosenbluth, The Magician

Journey through “As Above So Below,” an immersive exhibition where the realms of humanism and technology converge, where an AI Chatbot named The Magician foretells your future while the mystical artworks of seven painters and two sculptors beckon you into an ethereal cosmos of glowing deep sea wonders and symbolic rituals.

“As Above, So Below” refers to the cosmic-earthly connection symbolized by the magician tarot card. The exhibition walls are painted black and covered in jumbo-sized vinyl images from the James Webb Telescope including The Pillars of Creation, Messier 7, and The Eagle Nebula. Vinyl cutouts of bioluminescent sea creatures are dispersed around a salon-style arrangement of paintings and a sculpture by Alfred Rosenbluth.

Alfred Rosenbluth (b. 1987, Wynnewood, PA) is an artist and writer whose work has been featured in various group shows across the New York Metropolitan area, including exhibitions at The Living Gallery, Sotheby’s, Field Projects, and SPRING/BREAK.

On an exposed wooden shelf sits a black table holding a laptop, black electric candles, and an illuminated crystal ball. The crystal ball sits on top of a smart tablet. Projector plastic inside of the crystal ball, situated at a 45 degree angle from the tablet screen, reflects a looped video of Max von Sydow‘s face from Ingmar Bergman’s 1958 movie “The Magician,” overlaid with images of cosmic bodies and glowing sea creatures. The illusion is an 18th century theater trick known as a Pepper’s Ghost. The laptop houses an interactive AI chatbot named The Magician, trained to assume the persona of a fortune teller. Visitors are invited to ask The Magician questions. Printouts of user instructions, a personal biography, and a self-composed origin mythology-all written by the AI-are stacked near the black table.

Three windows are draped in fabric images of the magician tarot, the fool tarot, and the strength tarot. Illuminated inflatables of the moon hang from the window frame and exhibition ceiling. One large inflatable of the moon, four feet in diameter, sits on the ground in front of the fool tarot curtain. A mobile of the solar system hangs from the ceiling, linking the back entrance of the exhibition to the front.

In the center of the overall space sits a white table display of Adina Andrus‘ ceramic vessels. Geometric lines of white flour delineate areas around the ceramics. Named “Flour of the Fates,” the work represents one element of a ritual offering familiar to the artist in her native Romania.

Adina Andrus (b. 1980, Bucharest, Romania) explores rituals and visual culture in her artwork. She has received grants from the Queens Council for the Arts and NY State Arts Alive. Her work has been exhibited internationally, including at Ladies Room LA, CollarWorks, and LABSpace Gallery.

What follows is a description of the practice of the remaining painters in the exhibition, photos of their included works, and photography of the art in situ.

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Aleah Chapin, recipient of the BP Portrait Award, challenges the conventional portrayal of the body in western culture. Her paintings explore aging, gender, and beauty while embodying a return to nature and a connection with the spiritual plane.

Aleah Chapin (b. 1986, Whidbey Island, WA) is an acclaimed painter whose direct portrayals of the human form have garnered international recognition. Her work has been shown at The American Academy of Arts and Letters, Flowers Gallery (New York, London, Hong Kong), The Belvedere Museum (Vienna), and the National Portrait Gallery (London).

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John Lark, an expressionist figurative painter, draws inspiration from abstract expressionism, minimalism, and pop art. He explores the disconnection of the interior self in the context of post-modernity, offering a dark mysticism that emerges from the convergence of spirit.

John Lark (b. 1982, Lansing, MI) is an artist with an MFA from the New York Academy of Art and a BFA from The University of Michigan. His work has been exhibited at the Ethan Cohen Gallery and Untitled Space in New York. He is currently in-residence at the Armory Art Center in West Palm Beach, Florida.

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Jacob Hicks combines magical realism and portraiture to create obsessively detailed paintings of female Gods and archetypes. His solo exhibition, “A Place Beyond Heaven” at Bobblehaus, runs through the end of November 2023. He will be exhibiting in, “Smoke & Mirrors: Magical Thinking in Contemporary Art” at Boca Raton Museum of Art, up through May 2024.

Jacob Hicks (b. 1985, Midland, TX) is a painter and educator at the Queens Museum. He has participated in residencies with the Children’s Museum of the Arts and the Terra Foundation. Recent exhibitions include “Allegory of Vanity” with Kustera Projects and “Lured By Bacchus, Lost To Oblivion” at the SPRING/BREAK Art Show.

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Miguel Carter-Fisher draws and paints from direct observation to explore individuals and the mysterious spiritual, cultural, temporal, and spatial distances that keep them apart from one another. His paintings provide an empathetic perspective and space for self-reflection, compassion, and healing.

Miguel Carter-Fisher (b. 1986) is an art professor at Virginia Commonwealth University and narrative painter based in Richmond, Virginia. His work has been exhibited in galleries across the United States and internationally.

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Kaitlyn Stubbs, a painter and educator with Cooper Hewitt, explores the threat posed by the proliferation of virtual imagery to our subjective experiences. Referencing the mark-making of John Singer Sargent and Manet, her paintings establish a personal language, prompting contemplation on the impact of technology on our perception of reality.

Kaitlyn Stubbs (b. 1987, Shreveport, LA) is a Brooklyn-based artist and educator, holding a BFA from the University of Georgia and an MFA from the New York Academy of Art. She has exhibited internationally and taught at renowned institutions such as MoMA, MFA Boston, SUNY, and Cooper Hewitt.

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Jessica Damsky‘s paintings explore the contemporary western mindset towards femininity. By appropriating female archetypes, she confronts antiquated belief structures that shape the perception of women, sparking a dialogue between gender, power, and spirituality.

Jessica Damsky (b. 1982, San Diego, CA) is an artist, curator, tenured professor, and department chair based in Portland, OR. Her work has been exhibited at Sotheby’s NYC and Flowers Gallery.

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Nicolas Holiber explores the connection between mythic and human presence by blending abstracted and figurative elements and merging sculpture, drawing and painting into a unified form.

Nicolas Holiber (b. 1985, New York, NY) is a Brooklyn painter known for his vibrant multidimensional works. He has exhibited extensively and was awarded residencies at Lower Manhattan Cultural Council’s Process Space and the ArtInPlace Public Sculpture Award.

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“As Above, So Below” creates an immersive experience, inviting viewers to contemplate the mystical realms of existence and the harmonious interplay between humanity, the natural world, and technological advancements in artificial intelligence. Through the diverse artistic expressions of the participating artists, the exhibition aims to inspire introspection, spark dialogue, and illuminate new perspectives.

Curator Biographies

Jacob Hicks (b. 1985, Midland, TX) is a painter, curator, and art educator with a passion for community engagement and art education. He curates interdisciplinary shows like “Anthropoceneans” in New Hope, PA, funded by the W Paul Beckwith Emerging Curatorial Grant, exploring human impact on the environment, and “Alchemy and Metaphysics” at Trestle Project Space in Gowanus. At the Queens Museum, Hicks builds curriculum and teaches inclusive family programming for exhibitions and multicultural events like Día de los Muertos and Lunar New Year. He also organizes and leads art-making workshops inspired by the contemporary and permanent exhibitions. Through these initiatives, he cultivates appreciation, diversity, and understanding of art while fostering community.

Buket Savci (b. 1976, Istanbul, Turkey) is a painter and curator known for her vibrant and emotionally charged exhibitions. She recently co-curated “Lured By Bacchus, Lost To Oblivion” with Caitlin McCormack at the SPRING/BREAK Art Show. Her personal immigration experience necessitated community-building to provide a sense of belonging in a new place and inspired her to convey radical love through art. Her work explores issues of displacement while emphasizing the values of love, trust, and togetherness.

*All non-labeled installation photography by Jacob Hicks